Chapter 5: Hunted
Vilgax's warship, The Chimeran Hammer, continued to orbit the Earth.
Inside the ship, the still recovering Vilgax was observing four intergalactic bounty hunters from his CR chamber.
In the training area of his ship. The four hunters were standing on a floating platform with four spotlights hanging above them, waiting for the trial to start.
The first wore purple armor with purple pads covering his central joints, an alien-like belt, and four central lines on his helmet to provide outlines for his face. His name was Six-Six.
The second was a crab-like alien with goldish brown-colored armor, a sideways mouth, four scythe-like legs, and a large, powerful pincer for a left hand. His name was Kraab.
The third appeared to be a humanoid wearing an orange suit of armor with a red helmet, a green visor, and a green arm cannon. This bounty hunter answered only by the codename 'Power.'
The final bounty hunter wore a shiny grey suit along with a black helmet with a small, teal triangle on it, shoulder pads, and boots. There are glowing teal-colored lines on his helmet and shoulder pads. He went by the codename 'Hoverboard'.
"Begin the audition!" Vilgax declared over the ship's intercom as they got started.
Six-Six flew out first to go. He fired up his jetpack, and a bunch of Vilgax's drones came out from the portholes and surrounded him.
A compartment in his armor opened, and he pulled out a small blaster and fired it on the droids, shooting down a few of them in the process.
Few of the remaining drones fired back at him, so he rolled out of the way of their lasers and fired a barrage of small rockets from his wrist as retaliation.
He then pulled out a grenade from another part of his armor and tossed it at a few of the droids, and it detonated, destroying another cluster of them.
Then Kraab jumped down from the platform and joined the fight, grabbing one of the drones with his massive pincer and using it as a projectile to destroy another.
Two more drones then try to rush him. But he spotted them just in time, catching one in mid-flight with his claw and crushed it before pulling out a sword and splitting the other in two.
After Krabb, it was Power's turn to jump down and fire a power beam that sent out multiple blasts and charged blasts at the droids, destroying every single one they hit before using a grapple beam on one flying overhead. Allowing Power to backflip overhead onto it, fire a missile into one overhead, and land in front of SixSix and Krabb.
Then, from up above the three bounty hunters came another droid similar to the one that attacked the campground. Hoverboard pulled out his hoverboard and flew towards the droid, and it fired a laser at him that hit him.
But when the smoke cleared, it was revealed that he was completely unharmed thanks to his armor. He then jumped and punched right through the droid, destroying it as his hoverboard followed him, and he folded it up and put it away as Vilgax's projection came on the screen.
"Impressive," He said. "You are all hired. Your objective is to retrieve the Omnitrixes. The one who succeeds collects the reward. Do not disappoint me."
The four nodded in confirmation and then got into escape pods, and they were jettisoned into the Earth's atmosphere, where they would meet their prey and destroy them.
-x-
Meanwhile, somewhere in the desert, Max was setting up a training area with old cans and pipes as the twins stood on opposite sides, and Raine was whistling patiently and tapping her foot as Max finished up.
"You two ready?" He asked his grandkids.
The twins then smirked to themselves as the screen split, and the two selected their forms and slammed the cores down.
Drake's watch slammed into his wrist, and it became encased in green diamond before it covered his other arm and his head. Before it closed around his eye and became fully golden. Four spike-like diamonds, the lower pair smaller than the upper pair, grew out of his back, and his clothes morphed into a bodysuit, black on one side, white on the other. The watch symbol was on his upper left bicep as the transformation ended.
Raine's watch sank into her arm as chlorophyll filled her veins and traveled up her arm, she clutched her eyes closed before they opened, revealing a fully green color. Her limbs turned into bundles of spiked vines as dark green leaves covered her shoulders and wrist. Her head transformed into a rose flower with no visible mouth. Finally, two more vines sprouted out of her back. Raine's clothes were now a black and magenta jumpsuit with a leaf skirt, and the watch appeared on the middle of her chest as she spread out her hands, and a flurry of barbed vines spread out as she ended the transformation.
"Oh yeah," Diamondhead said.
"We're ready," Roser-wip said.
"Remember to think out there, you two," Max reminded them. "Don't try to muscle it. 'Might isn't always right.'"
"Yeah, We know," Diamondhead insisted as he turned his arms to their form, where they shot out diamonds.
"But you have to admit, Grandpa, it's always fun," Roser-wip added.
With that, Max pulled a lever, sending six cans flying in the air. Diamondhead spun around and fired six crystals, piercing each one.
He then pulled another lever and shot cans at Roser-wip as she cracked her vines to fire a flurry of thorns at the cans and hit them before they could hit her.
Max smiled and pulled a lever from above him. Making target boards lower behind the twins, who spun around and fired their diamonds/thorns at them.
Diamondhead had restless fingers and excitedly shot cans from behind his back and a target cactus in front. He somersaulted and nailed some pull-up targets a fair distance away. He morphed his arms back to normal and blew on his 'hot' finger.
Roser-wip used her vines to snag the cans out of the air and flicked them so hard at the targets on the top of the hill, smashing right through them! She changed her arms back and stretched like it was nothing. "All in a day's work…" She comments nonchalantly.
Gwen watched them from a lounge chair, rather unimpressed. "Show-offs..." She huffed, applying some sunscreen on herself.
"Focus, kids. Think!" Max reminded him yet again. "Think!"
"Don't worry, Grandpa," Diamondhead said dismissively as a few more cans came flying towards him, and he fired some diamonds at them.
But he failed to see a tire come flying towards him. It beams Diamondhead in the face, knocking him back before he could dodge. In his panic, he shot diamonds in all directions, making Max too ducked for cover and Roser-wip to create a vine barrier to block the shots.
Gwen screamed and used her Quirk to lift the table in front of her as the shards became embedded in the table. But when she did this, the sunscreen bottle went flying in the air as a diamond pierced it, and it landed on the roof of The Rust Bucket.
When Gwen thought the course was clear, she peeked out, only to have sunscreen ooze out and slather over her head.
"Urrgh!..." She grunted angrily.
Diamondhead looked out as he saw Roser-wip retract her vines and start pulling crystals out of her arms. She groaned in disappointment and glared at Diamondhead.
"Nice 'sharp-shooting' Drake!" Roser-wip groaned.
Diamondhead chuckled nervously as he picked himself up.
"Sorry guys, my bad." He apologized.
-x-
Later, the Tennesons were back on the road and driving away in the Rustbucket.
"You rockhead! You almost turned me into Swiss cheese!" Gwen complained to Drake.
"I said I was sorry! What else do you want?" Drake asked as he turned to his sister. "You know it was an accident, Right Sis?"
"Of course, but remember, we've only had these powers for almost two weeks," Raine recalled looking at her watch. "And it looks like the more we keep using them, the more we learn about them."
"Exactly, which is why we want both of you to take those things on your wrists more seriously," Max spoke up from the driver's seat.
"You two need to think when you use them. Lately, you two have been charging into battle without a plan." He recalled. "Being heroes is more than just punching and blasting bad guys."
"Yeah, we know, but come on, Grandpa!" Drake said. "You and Gwen have seen us in action. We're the toughest twins in town." She boasted.
"We've been kicked so much by aliens, our feet hurt!" Raine declared while Drake put his feet up on the table before Gwen pushed them away.
"Yeah, but one of these days, you guys get your butts kicked. And I hope I'm there to see it," Gwen declared with a smile.
"That's a little harsh," Raine thought to herself, feeling a bit hurt.
"Well, you better keep dreaming," Drake replied confidently. "Because that day's not coming anytime soon."
Then, all of a sudden, the Rust Bucket's engine sputtered loudly, and the RV screeched to a halt.
"That doesn't sound good," Max said, looking for a place to pull over.
-x-
Meanwhile-
Back at the training site, 'Hoverboard' looked over the remains of where the Tennysons abandoned the site with 'Power' by his side as they examined it. He looked at a radar tracker and spotted the energy signature of the Omnitrixes.
"This is where the Omnitrixes were last activated," He informed his partner before walking off to examine closer with his hoverboard in hand.
The two other hunters watched them from a cliff. SixSix spoke to Kraab in an unintelligible alien language, then flew over to the structure with his jetpack.
"You can say that again," Kraab said. "A rock pile like this is better off space dust."
Power used the tracking device in his suit's visor and looked down to see one of the cans that still had one of Diamondhead's shards stuck in it.
But as he reached down to investigate, SixSix snatched it with an extendable grappling claw from his armor and started to examine it.
But before he could get anything useful from the can. 'Hoverboard' grabbed the grapple holding the can and tore it out of his gauntlet.
This angered SixSix, who extended six more armed appendages, as well as a small, fleshy arm from his shoulders, while 'Hoverboard' put his hand on his gun.
But before a brawl could break out, 'Power' gets in between them and looks SixSix straight in the eye.
"Don't even think about it, Mech-head. You have to do a lot more to threaten me." 'Power' threatened.
Six-Six said something in his native tongue that sounded like a threat.
"Whoa! Big talk from a gearhead," Kraab declared in amusement, watching the stand-off from a distance.
After 'Power' breaks up the fight, the hunters decide to look for clues elsewhere. As they walk off, 'Hoverboard' walks up Sixsix.
"Get in our way again, and I'll teach you how to say 'dismantle," The masked mercenary threatened as SixSix backed down,
He sheaths his appendages and retracts his weapons. He then cursed him in his native language before flying away.
Kraab then leaped up into the air, spun his four legs around like a drill, and burrowed beneath the Earth's crust to search for the Omnitrixes.
As 'Hoverboard' walked away, he tripped on a rope that caused the targets from before to pop up.
In response, he spun around and shot the structure with his gun, destroying the entire training site in a massive explosion.
As he walked away, 'Power' put a hand on his shoulder.
"Hey, I would cool it if I were you," He scolds 'Hoverboard.' "We're not here to roughhouse. We have to focus on our mission."
"You're right," Hoverboard replied. "We need to find the Omnitrixes and keep them out of the wrong hands at all costs."
-x-
Elsewhere-
Max managed to park the Rustbucket in a ghost town. It was completely deserted, and the remains of the buildings and farms looked in really bad shape.
"Looks like nobody's home," Drake noticed.
"Not for a while," Gwen said, reading her phone. "My Intellimap program says this is Slatterville. Incorporated in 1857 after the discovery of silver." She explained. "Went bust in the late 50's when the mine ran out."
"So we're stranded in a virtual ghost town," Raine said as a tumbleweed passed by. "Great…"
"Why does everything that comes out of your mouth sound like a book report?" Drake asked, bored, to which Gwen scowled at him.
"Aha!" Max declared as he took his head out of the RV's hood. "I think I found the problem."
He said, pulling out the dripping fuel line with one of Rosar-wip's thorns pierced through it and showing the kids. "Leaky fuel line."
Raine's face went pale when she saw that. Drake may have almost taken their heads off earlier. But she damaged The Rust Bucket!
Upon realizing it was her fault, this happened. Raine blushed and looked away, embarrassed.
"Huh… Lucky shot, Sis." Drake chuckled, padding his sister's shoulder, which didn't make her feel better. as Gwen sighed.
"I should be able to patch it up," Max assured them.
"Sorry, Grandpa," Raine said with a sigh as she powered up her watch.
"Maybe I can help with that. Perhaps In-Vade could... No, wait- Technowl would-" Raine suggested, wanting to make up for her blunder. But Max stops her.
"That's alright, Raine, I think that you kids have done enough already," Max tells them. "I'll handle this."
"Alright…" Raine accepts.
"Well, I guess while we wait, we should check this place out," Drake said as he and Raine started walking off to explore the abandoned town.
As Max and Gwen watched them head into town. The senior then turned to his granddaughter, worried.
"Maybe you should, um..." He began but stopped as he tried to think of a sensitive way of saying what he wanted to.
"-Make sure they don't somehow blow everything up?" Gwen asked, to which Max nodded. "I'm on it." She said with a wink before following her cousins.
"Eh… Yes, and keep on, Raine, I still think she still feels bad about The Rust Bucket." Max advises.
-x-
The twins walked into Slatterville's mine and admired the old craftsmanship of what was in it, eventually arriving at an empty warehouse.
"Man, talk about old school," Drake noted as he picked up an old wrench. "Look at all this junk."
"Tell me about it," Raine agreed, examining her surroundings. "It's like we stepped back in time."
"Drake! Raine!" Gwen called out.
The twins peered out of the warehouse and saw Gwen walking by, looking around for them.
Drake then smirked and activated the watch as Raine got a worried look on her face.
"Seriously, bro!" Raine said. "We're trying to prove we're responsible with our watches!"
"Relax, I'm just blowing off some steam." Drake retorts as he slams the core down in a flash of green light.
While Raine watched on, feeling like this was going to end badly.
-x-
Meanwhile, Six-Six and Kraab detected the surge of energy on their trackers and then started advancing towardSlatterville.
-x-
Gwen sees the flash and walks into the warehouse with a suspicious look as she calls out to the twins. The inside was noticeably darker.
"CALLING ALL DWEEBS!" She called out. No response.
"Guys?"
She worryingly walked in, passing by a certain area, a creepy shadowy silhouette following after her. As it reached her, it passed through her, causing her to shiver. At this point, Ghostfreak appeared in front of her.
"What's the matter, Gwen?" He asked in a faint whispering voice. "You look like you've seen a ghost... Freak!" He then started cackling to himself.
"Get over yourself, doofus. You don't scare me," Gwen scoffed.
That's when a hand from the shadow taps Gwen on the shoulder.
Gwen jumps back and yelps in surprise, only to see Raine standing behind her and Ghostfreak chuckling at her expense.
"Don't do that!" Gwen scolds her cousin.
"Sorry, Gwen, I was trying to talk Drake out of scaring you," Raine apologized as she leaned against a crate.
"Relax, I'm in no way scared of Drake." Gwen retorts.
Suddenly, they felt a tremor in the ground. "Hey, You say these mines were supposed to be abandoned, right?" Raine asked, concerned.
But before anyone could answer her. Something underground started tunneling towards them. Ghostfreak grabbed the girls and flew them away before they could get hit.
Then the ground opened up, and Kraab emerged from the ground and revealed his head to the surprised Tennyson cousins as he walked menacingly toward them.
"Okay, him, I'm scared of," Gwen admits, shaking.
"No problem. I'll handle this guy," Ghostfreak said confidently as he flew over to Kraab. His eyes traveled all across the tears in his skin as he got a good look at the robotic crab alien.
"Man, you put the 'ugh' in ugly." He taunted the cybernetic bounty hunter.
"Hand over the Omnitrixes, and I promise that you won't sufffer... much," Kraab demanded as he aggressively pinched his pincer.
"Dream on, 'claw-boy,'" Ghostfreak scoffed before he moved his eye through the black cracks of his skin to talk to the girls behind him. "What's he talking about?" He whispered.
"Isn't it obvious! Einstein!" Gwen snapped. "He wants the watches!"
"Seriously, Bro! Why else would an alien lifeform want to track us down?!" Raine added.
"Alright, I get it! You don't have to get snotty about it, Ms. Know-It-All," Ghostfreak huffed, and he turned back to Kraab.
"Sorry, 'Crabby.' But we've kind of... bonded with these watches," Raine tried to explain.
"Not for long," Kraab declared with another pinch of his claw.
"You have no idea who you're messing with," Ghostfreak said as Raine slammed down her watch and transformed into SilverClaw with a glare. She drew her claws out, ready to pounce.
"Funny," Kraab said. "I was just about to tell you the same thing."
"Oh, yeah? Do you know this one? "Now you see me, now you don't." That was when Ghostfreak declared as he faded away from sight, leaving behind Gwen, who laughed nervously and ran away. While SilverClaw charged right at him.
SilverClaw ran in and tried to slash Kraab with her claws. Only to have him swatted her aside with his claw and fired his blasters at her.
She then used her feline agility to dodge his shots, jumped in the air, and slammed Kraab into the ground, sending him sprawling on the floor before pulling himself up with his claws and glaring angrily at the saber-toothed alien.
SilverClaw then used the surrounding crates to leap around and slash Kraab's armor as she passed by him, causing some damage. Afterward, she landed on top of a crate and smiled down at the fallen bounty hunter.
"Good thing I was never a fan of shellfish," She notes to herself.
But the victory was short-lived as Kraab quickly recovered and carefully looked around him.
He shifted his helmet visor to infrared vision to search for Ghostfreak's heat signature in order to detect him.
Just as Ghostfreak tried to sneak up behind him, Kraab spun his head around, catching the eternal alien off guard.
"You brats are as arrogant as you are dimwitted," Kraab laughed, using thermographic vision, allowing him to detect Ghostfreak.
He then turns and faces Ghostfreak and fires a strange orange goo from his claw at him.
Whatever this stuff was, it forced Ghostfreak to uncloak himself. He tried to turn invisible again, which didn't work as he looked around in a panic.
"What's going on?!" He demanded the bounty hunter to explain.
"Your protoplasm is now solidified, making it easier to do THIS!" Kraab declared as he punched Ghostfreak, sending him flying into the crates behind him and he put his hands on the floor, dazed.
As Kraab approached the fallen specter. SilverClaw was silently stalking him with a glare as she readied her massive claws to turn him into a seafood platter.
She then pounces on him and tries to take him out only for Kraab to spin his upper body around and swat her back with his giant pincer.
SilverClaw landed on her feet and tried to attack again. But this time, Kraab grabbed Ghostfreak by the tail and swung him around at her, sending the both of them flying into the wall.
Unfortunately for SilverClaw, her claws were now stuck in the walls. She then gave out an annoyed "hmph" as she tried to pull her paws free.
"Oh, man. Who is this guy?" Ghostfreak asked his female relatives.
"Definitely a pain in the butt…" SilverClaw grunts as she tries to pull herself free from the wall.
"Remember when I said I wanted to be there when you guys got your butt kicked?" Gwen asked. "I take it waaaay back."
"Apology accepted," SliverClaw replies.
As the bounty hunter started to walk towards them, Ghostfreak and Gwen grabbed SilverClaw by her shoulders and pulled back as hard as they could until she popped out of the wall.
"You two are the 'experienced' heroes! Do something!" Gwen shouted as the two got up and started to engage the hunter.
"You had better keep your claws to yourself, punk!" SilverClaw shouted as she dodged Kraab's swipes.
"You two are getting really annoying!" Kraab shouted as he fired an electric blast at Ghostfreak that managed to score a direct hit and sent him flying into another side of the warehouse.
"You have no idea," Ghostfreak grunted as he tried to stand up and Kraab tried to puncture him with his legs.
Ghostfreak dodged as SilverClaw tried to tackle Kraab, but he batted her away with his pincer.
The downed twins managed to pull themselves up as Kraab towered over them.
"Hardly worth the hunt…" Kraab said, preparing to finish off his targets.
Unbeknownst to him, Gwen watched the whole fight and noticed that the robotic crustacean had walked right onto a lift platform and its switch bow was right next to Ghostfreak.
"DRAKE! GIVE HIM A LIFT!" She called out to her cousin.
Ghostfreak looked around, saw the lever, and then pulled it.
Kraab's platform suddenly shot up towards the ceiling, squishing him against it.
SilverClaw then shredded the lever box with her claws just as the Omnitrixes timed out and they transformed back in a flash of red and purple light.
"You okay, bro?" Raine asked, concerned as Drake rubbed his head, still covered in the goo.
"Oh, man… That was even weirder than when I normally go Ghostfreak," Drake said, slightly disturbed.
The trio then looked up at the crushed crab alien.
"Come on. Let's get out of here before 'Crab Cake' wakes up," Gwen said as they both ran out of the warehouse, just as Kraab's legs began to twitch.
Unbeknownst to them, Hoverboard and Power were inside the warehouse the whole time.
They watched them leave and Hoverboard's visor gave out a shine in the light as they turned away.
-x-
The kids ran back to their grandfather at the Rust Bucket.
"What happened?" Max asked them, concerned.
"You know, the usual," Gwen stated. "Some jumbo-sized crustacean burst out of the ground and attacked us."
"It said it wanted our watches but they called them 'Omnitrixes'," Raine adds as she and Drake looked down at their watches.
"You think that what they're actually are calling?" Drake asked as Raine sighed.
"If it's true, then we're calling them Omnitrixes from now on," She stated plainly.
"But we managed to take him out. I'd like to see if he comes back so I can go Four Arms and I'll turn him into a seafood special!" Drake declared confidently as he started dialing in his Omnitrix before Max laid a hand on his shoulder.
"No time," Max tells them. "Repairs are done. We're out of here."
"But Grandpa-!" Drake began before his sister nudged him in the shoulder.
"He's right. The Omnitrixes need to charge, We'd better leave this place before that crab turns us into seafood specials," Raine said as they got in the Rust Bucket and sped away.
-x-
As they traveled down the road, Gwen looked out the window, keeping an eye out for their crustacean pursuer.
"No sign of 'crab guy', yet," She informs the others.
"Well, he'd better not show up if he knows what's good for him-" Drake said, confidently showing off his Omnitrix.
Suddenly, they all felt a thud from something landing on the roof. Then a chainsaw-like blade started sawing its way through the roof of the Rust Bucket as they all gasped.
"I think we just picked up a hitchhiker!" Gwen shouted as Six-Six snarled at them as he pulled away the roof.
"Who's that?!" Gwen cried out.
"How are we supposed to know?!" Raine exclaimed.
"They're the ones hunting us!" Drake adds as SixSix starts reaching for the twins.
Max slammed the brake and Six-Six was sent flying off of the RV and onto the ground.
Six-Six stood on the ground dazed before Max confidently hit the gas and ran the bounty hunter over with the Rust Bucket.
But his confidence soon faded as the Rust Bucket came to a stop in the middle of the road. He got out and saw the tires were all deflated.
SixSix has smashed up the tires with metal spikes. To make matters worse, said bounty hunter started getting up.
They all got out and immediately began searching for some cover. Max spied a mineshaft in the distance. "In there!" He told his grandchildren and the group ran into the mine's entrance.
The Tennysons ran away as SixSix was about to follow. But as SixSix tried to chase them, he was disoriented by some sudden tremors.
Then, Kraab erupted from the ground as Six-Six looked on in shock.
"Remember me?!" He demanded as he slammed down on SixSix.
-x-
Inside the abandoned mine, the Tennysons steered a corner and stopped behind a wall to catch their breath.
Drake slowly peered around the corner to see if the hunters were following them. When he saw no one was at the entrance, he let out a sigh of relief.
"Whew, the coast is clear!" He declared.
However, Kraab then burst out of the ground in front of them, surprising the family.
"Don't you get tired of being wrong all the time?!" Gwen snaps at her cousin.
"Not a good time, Gwen!" Drake replies as Kraab approaches them.
"The Omnitrix! Give it to me!" Kraab demanded.
"Never in your wildest dreams! Crabby!" Raine shouted back.
Max threw a nearby piece of metal at Kraab, but the alien crustacean crushed it instantly with his claw.
"Run!" Gwen shouted as they all ran away deeper into the mine.
As they ran, the twins fiddled with their still-recharging Omnitrixes.
"Come on! Do something! Anything!" Drake pleaded with the watch as they avoided Kraab bashing into a wall.
The tunnel they ran through emptied out into an open chasm, trapping them on one side.
"Great. We're trapped," Raine said.
"Now what?" She asked in fear.
Max looks around and spots a cable car.
"We 'take a ride'." He declared as the kids jumped into the cart while Max tried to start it by pulling a lever, just as Kraab caught up to them.
But before he could reach him, Max managed to activate the lever to get the cart going and leaped across the gap.
He barely managed to grab the side of the car before the kids pulled him in.
They looked back and watched an angry-looking Kraab walking away as Raine stuck out her tongue at him.
"What a pathetic excuse for prey!" Kraab declared as he prepared to cut the wire to send the Tennysons falling to their doom.
But before he was shot in the back by a laser blast from Six-Six.
SixSix then flew after the car, shooting at it and knocking the Tennysons around.
Gwen peered above the car and saw SixSix gaining on them. "We got company, closing in fast!" Gwen alerted her family.
"We need a plan," Max told them as the twins fiddled with their Omnitrixes
Thankfully, the Omnitrixes became active again, making the twins smile.
"Yes!" Raine cheered.
"Who needs a plan, when you have the watch?" Drake declared as he and Raine got up.
"We'll take it from here," Raine assured as they both slammed down the cores.
"No Kids! Wait! That's just what it wants!" Max tried to warn his grandkids, but it was too late.
The twins have unintentionally both transformed into Diamondhead.
But to avoid confusion, Raine started calling her Diamondhead form, Crystalhead.
The crystalline twins then jumped out of the cart and tackled SixSix in mid-air, with Diamondhead transforming his arm into a blade as they fell into the chasm.
"KIDS!" Max shouted down into the chasm.
At that moment, the three flew back up while struggling with Sixsix through the air, before they crashed into a wall and fell onto one of the stands on the mine.
As the car continued down its track, Max and Gwen tried to get the twins to get out of there.
"Guys, come on!" Gwen shouted as the twins stood up.
"Go without us, we'll catch up," Crystalhead argued.
"But first, we'll put some dents in this walking soda machine," Diamondhead declared as he activated his blade arms.
But as the pair were about to attack, Kraab appeared behind the pair grabbed them from behind with his pincer, and threw them into the wall behind them.
"We really should've seen that coming," Crystalhead groaned before they got up and attacked the two bounty hunters.
Diamondhead leaped at the two bounty hunters. With his right arm as a spike, he slashed at them, Kraab dodging it, but it connected with Sixsix.
Only to get gut-punched by Crystalhead. She then blocked a swing from Kraab's claw with her other arm, then turned and punched him in the face.
Things were going well, until Sixsix rushed in and blasted Diamondhead in the stomach with a blaster, knocking him back into his sister. Kraab then was able to gut-check her with his claw.
Sixsix then rushed in again and struck Diamondhead in the back. Kraab then grabbed Crystalhead around the midsection, lifting her into the air and slamming her down onto the floor.
He then throws her into a wall as Diamondhead goes to help her.
"That… could have gone better..." Crystalhead noted as the twins picked themselves up.
SixSix started moving towards them, but Kraab held him back. "Back off! That reward's mine." The cyborg crustacean snapped.
SixSix then snapped back something in his native language.
"Well, you don't have to get personal-!" Kraab complained, taking offense to what he said.
Suddenly, a metal ball fell to the ground at their feet and released a gas that knocked the two bounty hunters out.
The twins looked up and saw 'Hoverboard' holding a grenade launcher and 'Power' standing a few feet away from them.
"And thought these two were bad enough," Crystalhead muttered to her brother.
"Tell me about it." Diamondhead agreed.
The new bounty hunters then flew over to the twins, grabbed the pair by their back spikes, and carried them out of the tunnel.
-x-
Once they came out of the tunnel, the pair flew the twins back to Slatterville.
"Get your hands off! Buster!" Crystalhead complained as they were thrown to the ground.
"1.5 billion 'Humans' and 5.5 billion 'Osmosians' on this planet and the Omnitrixes end up in the hands of two foolhardy youths," Hoverboard grumbled.
"Foolhardy?! My brother and I had things under control before you guys came along." Crystalhead argued.
"Yeah you really showed the others earlier," Power retorted sarcastically, making Crystalhead grimace.
"I hate to rain on your parade, but like we told your buddies, these things don't come off. Believe me, we've tried," Diamondhead told them.
"Of course they don't. Their power utilizes alien DNA, which binds to the host's own genetic structure. They can't simply be removed like taking off a hat…" Hoverboard explained while crossing his arms.
As he spoke, Diamondhead sneakily readied a blade and rushed to attack him.
Hoverboard, with his back, turned, expertly dodged, and counterattacked with an uppercut that sent Diamondhead flying.
This prompted Crystalhead to try to attack Power. But Power caught her red-handed and fired a missile at the diamond warrior sending her flying into Diamondhead.
"Ok, not of my better ideas…" She sighed as she and her brother picked themselves off the ground.
"Your choice of warriors is based solely on brute strength without regard for any strategy. Do you ever pause to consider your actions at all?" Hoverboard lectured the twins.
"Hey! We've kicked more than our fair share of alien butt," Diamondhead snapped.
"Yeah, like how you two were 'Kicking butt' in the mine earlier," Power pointed out.
"Alright, Fine…. You have us there, We'll give you that," Crystalhead admitted.
"It wasn't even our fault! We had to get our family out of there." Diamondhead insisted, rushing in with both arms as spikes.
"You two were about to be killed and the Omnitrixes were about to fall into the hands of a pair of madmen." Power added as he easily stepped to the side while pushing Diamondhead's right arm down.
"Even with all those abilities, someone as inexperienced as you two should have at least been able to stand your ground." Power scolds the twins.
He then tried to stab Power with his left arm, but Power then used to backhand him, knocking him back a few steps into the mine carts as Crystalhead ran up to Hoverboard.
"Victory should've been swift and effortless." Hoverboard continued the lecture, as he raised his left arm again and deflected Crystalhead's right arm stab, pushing his left arm aside when she attempted another stab, finally shoving her face to knock her back.
"The Omnitrixes are not just some toys for your amusement. They are the most powerful weapons in the galaxy. The key to an epic battle between good and evil." The masked mercenary told them.
"Oh yeah? and which category do you two fall into?" Crystalhead asked as she helped her twin to his feet.
"Well… if I'm not wrong, but we DID just save your lives back in the mine," Power recalled.
"You're the good guys?" Diamondhead asked in disbelief.
"We came to this planet with the sole mission to retrieve the Omnitrixes at all costs. Since they are attached to you two, we will bring you back as well for their removal," Hoverboard explained.
"Oh no. We're not going anywhere," Diamondhead refused.
"Sadly, that's not your choice," Power said, sounding a bit sympathetic.
"It is now…" Crystalhead said as she turned her hands into shards and fired a barrage of diamonds at Hoverboard, knocking his hoverboard away.
She then goes in for a punch, before Hoverboard grabs her fist and throws her away she groans in pain as Diamondhead also tries to fight back but is met with identical results.
"It's disturbing how little you know of these aliens' strengths or weaknesses. You've barely scratched the surface of its potential." Hoverboard continued to lecture.
"Oh yeah? So what makes you such an expert?" Diamondhead asked, slowly getting back to his feet.
Hoverboard's helmet slid open and revealed a face almost identical to Diamondhead's, although his crystals have a more bluish hue and he had green eyes. Revealing he was another Diamondhead!
Crystalhead got up and noticed Hoverboard's face reveal. "Woah… I didn't see that coming..."
"You're a Diamondhead?!" Diamondhead said.
"Wrong! I am a noble warrior, You and your sister, on the other hand, are an impulsive annoyance," He tells them as the Omnitrixes timed out and the twins turned back to normal and he picked them up.
"Hey! Let us down!" Raine said.
"I guess we're two of a kind," Power said to Raine as she removed her helmet, revealing that she was actually a young human woman with blonde hair tied in a ponytail and glaring at them.
"You're a Human?!" The twins shouted, even more shocked.
"Yeah… It's a Long Story…" Power chuckled at their surprised expressions, seemingly used to having people react that way to her.
"You can call me Samus and this 'Rockhead' here is Tetrax. We both came to Earth when we learned about the Omnitrixes." Samus explained, introducing herself and Tetrax.
"We decided to team up when we realized we both had the same goal to keep the Omnitrixes from falling into the wrong hands," Tetrax added as he reached for his hoverboard. But only to find that it was missing.
He looked around for the hoverboard, but couldn't find it. Then he heard Kraab's mechanical footsteps approaching.
Tetrax turns and sees Kraab walking out from behind a building, holding his hoverboard in his claw.
"Looking for THIS?! You're not getting off this planet with the Omnitrix. And just to be sure..." Kraab declared, then gestured to the side.
SixSix then appeared, revealing they had captured Gwen and Max as they struggled in his grip.
"Hands off!" Max shouted.
"Let me go!" Gwen shouted as the twins looked on in shock.
"You two aren't the only ones who can join forces! We've also decided to work together and split the reward… and you two... in half," Kraab boasted as he clamped his pincer twice to make a point.
"Give me my hoverboard!" Tetrax demanded.
"You want it? Go get it," Kraab then tossed the hoverboard to his right at a rock resting nearby them. "But you'll have to get past us to do it."
-x-
The two groups were left in a standoff in the setting sun.
Samus and Tetrax stayed with the twins, while SixSix held weapons to Max and Gwen's faces and Kraab stood ready to fight back.
Both sides stood ready for the other to strike first.
Then Kraab made the first move, shooting beams at Tetrax. However, the diamond-headed hunter blocked them with his back, shielding Samus and the twins.
"We need to get these two out of here!" Samus suggested while shooting at Kraab with her cannon.
Tetrax looks around and spots a nearby house. He leads the twins inside as Samus provides covering fire.
Kraab continued to fire as SixSix snapped at Kraab in his alien language, likely berating him for risking damage to the Omnitrix.
"Don't blow a gasket, 'metal-mouth', I know what I'm doing!" The hunter snapped back.
-x-
Inside, Raine turned frantically to Tetrax and Samus. "We can't just leave Gwen and Grandpa! We've gotta save them!" She insisted.
"YEAH! What are we waiting for?!" Drake asked before Tetrax grabbed them by their collars.
"Don't be foolish. Keeping the Omnitrixes secure is the only priority here." Tetrax told the young heroes.
"Not to us. That's our family!" Drake declared.
"And that's what they're counting on! They know you two will try and save your family, that's how traps work." Samus argued with the twins.
"Exactly... in your states, You'd both would soon be overpowered and captured." Tetrax tried to reason with the children. "The obvious choice is for me to retrieve my hoverboard, so that we may leave the planet while we still can."
"But-" Raine tried to argue but was interrupted by Samus.
"Look, If it means anything to you… We'll save your family. But you and your brother have to stay here." Samus offered. "Do you understand?"
"Come on-" Drake tried to protest, but Tetrax stopped him.
"This isn't about saving your family, it is about not losing the Omnitrixies! So stay put until we get back!" Tetrax ordered, putting the twins down, pulling something out of his pack, and running out the door.
Tetrax and Samus leaped through the smoke of Kraab's fire and launched a volley of crystals and energy blasts that flew past Kraab.
The attacks were able to pelt SixSix, only bouncing off his armor. But were still strong enough to knock him to the ground.
Kraab saw this and turned around, seeing Samus fly in using her suit's jetpack rushing him, so he leaped out of the way.
Only to see Tetrax running towards him, Samus was a distraction!
He swung his claw at the crystalline warrior, but Tetrax leaned forward and extended his legs to dive, passing over the claw harmlessly and snatching his hoverboard out of Kraab's hand.
He activates the board and flies away, as Samus exchanges fire with the now-recovered SixSix.
Tetrax circled back and leaped off the board, his heavy crystalline body rapidly plummeting towards the ground.
Sixsix decided to continue shooting at Tetrax, right up to the point where he landed on the armored bounty hunter.
Max and Gwen hid behind a minecart as Kraab also wisely chose to run away and took cover from the sizable dust cloud created by the impact, while Tetrax grabbed Sixsix by the throat and lifted him out of the small crater created by his impact.
He knocked him back with a powerful right underhand punch to the stomach and left hook, sending him skidding across the ground.
Sixsix pulled himself up and fired a rocket from his wrist, but Tetrax formed a large diamond construct to shield himself. He then shoots Samus, who drops to the ground, rolls up into a metallic ball, and lays some bombs all around the area.
She then rolls in and smashes into Sixsix and sends him onto one of them, it detonates and the explosion blows him sky-high. Samus unfurls and sees Kraab pop out of the ground to try and get the drop on Tetrax, so he flies in to help him.
Thankfully, Tetrax was aware that Kraab would try to do that and managed to intercept his swinging claw.
Samus then swoops in and catches Kraab's claw. She uses the momentum form the strike and her position in the air to pull the cybernetic alien off balance and throw him across the field.
Kraab landed a few feet from the house where Ben was in. The twins were forced to watch as they looked at their respective Omnitrixes, which were still recharging.
"Oh come on!" Drake said as they glared. "Recharge, already!"
While all this was happening, Kraab then noticed them as they
Kraab looked up and noticed that the twins were in the old building. He got up and shuttled towards them, intent on getting the Omnitrixes while SixSix kept Tetrax and Samus busy.
The duo realizes Kraab spotted them and immediately flees deeper into the house. Eventually, they hid behind a table as Kraab began tearing the place apart looking for them.
They looked at each other concerned until they saw the Omnitrixes flash brightly as they were finally recharged.
"Finally, Hero time," Raine sighed with a smile.
"Bout time," Drake said. "Let's finish this."
Drake's dial opened up on Four Arms, but before he could transform, he paused and looked back on everything that happened earlier today.
He then remembered what Max, Samus, and Tetrax had tried to teach them earlier.
-x-
First, he remembered the words of his grandfather.
"Remember to think out there, you two. Don't just try to muscle it. 'Might isn't always right'!"
Max's wisdom echoed in his mind, as he remembered getting laid out by a simple swinging tire.
After that, came the lecture he received from Tetrax, a warrior ACTUALLY as capable as the twins believed they were.
"Your choice of aliens is based SOLELY on brute strength without any regard for strategy. Do you ever pause to consider your actions?"
The masked mercenary's words rang through his head, along with the memory of the bounty hunters overpowering Diamondhead in the mines.
Finally, he remembers what Samus said that drives home what they ALL have been trying to teach them.
"Even with all those abilities, someone as inexperienced as you two should have at least been able to stand their ground."
-x-
Now, Drake finally realized that they were right all along.
He and Raine had been muscling it out all their fights today and have gotten their butt handed to them by these hunters, every time.
"Wait, sis?" Drake asked as Raine looked at him.
"I think we should start thinking about our choices, we've been getting our butts kicked all day from trying to beat up these guys," Drake explained.
"So maybe now's a good time to try and think of a better battle strategy than brute forcing it." He suggested.
Raine had to pause for a moment, she realized that she had just seen one of the rare times that Drake showed his maturity and was right about his suggestion.
"Huh… So far, That's the best idea I've heard from you all summer," Raine agreed as Drake smiled. "Let's do it!"
The two then look for different forms to fight the hunters. "Any idea?" Drake asked his sister.
Raine then found a good form to try. "Maybe one…" She said while smiling then whispered something to her brother who also smiled.
-x-
Kraab was still looking for the twins until he was alerted to the flash of green and pink from behind the table. He knew the duo had transformed so he approached the table with an invisible smirk.
"There you are!" He shouted as he smashed the table... only to find nothing behind it.
Confused, he rooted around in the rubble for any sign of the twins, unaware he was being watched.
Up in the rafters, In-Vade looked down on the clueless hunter. On her shoulder was a four-inch-tall grey-skinned frog-like alien with large green eyes with rectangular pupils. He wore a white jumpsuit with a black stripe going down it and had the watch symbol on his back. This was Drake's form, Grey Matter.
Grey Matter hopped up onto one of the beams in front of them. He turned to face his sister, and they nodded at each other, remembering the plan.
Grey Matter then leaped down onto Kraab's head, causing him to shuffle around, clawing at his head.
"GET… OFF! ME! YOU TINY LITTLE...!" Kraab snapped as he swiped at the small alien on his head.
In-Vade used this distraction to fly out the window, while Kraab continued to try and get Grey Matter off.
But Grey Matter avoided his hands and slipped down into an opening in Kraab's neck and rooted around in the electronics underneath.
"There should be a nerve cluster in here somewhere..." He said to himself, Grey Matter then found some wires and ripped them out, causing Kraab's head to spin around uncontrollably. He then stumbled around blindly, no longer in control of his actions. He then staggered off the building yelling out in pain.
"Maybe this one?" Grey Matter notes as he ripped out another wire that caused Kraab to stop thrashing, he came to a complete stop and finally shut down, crashing to the ground, finally down for the count. Grey Matter jumped off his shoulder before running to his sister. "That's one down, hope Raine has better luck than me."
-x-
Meanwhile, In-Vade was flying with her jetpack towards the fight between Tetrax and Six-Six.
In-Vade activates her PAC to give her high-tech goggles and uses them to scan Sixsix's armor to try to find a weakness. She then finds one in the form of a small opening in the hunter's armor as she grins mischievously.
"Interesting…" She comments to herself. "I think I have just the thing…"
Tetrax and SixSix continued brawling, SixSix swiping his claw-like hands at Tetrax, who dodged and hit SixSix with a left hook to the side, swinging a right haymaker to his head.
But SixSix managed to dodge and grabbed Tetrax from behind in a headlock before activating his jetpack and flying upwards and body suplexed Tetrax into the ground.
Unbeknownst to him, while Sixsix was in the air, In-Vade fired something into the opening in his neck and made its way to the workings of his systems.
SixSix spotted Grey Matter and glared before activating his wrist rockets at that small alien before Max tackled him to throw off his game.
"Drake, run!" He told his grandson, but SixSix threw Max to the ground and started menacingly spinning his circular saw close to his face.
Grey Matter gasped when he saw this and ran towards his grandfather in an attempt to save his life.
In-Vade also saw this as she then grits her teeth in anger.
"I wouldn't do that…" She warns as an arm with a joystick controller came out of her PAC.
"NO!" Gwen shouted in horror as Six-Six was about to kill Max.
Thankfully, Grey Matter distracted him by hopping onto his shoulder, before he could finish Max off.
"Guess who?" He declared, reaching around for wires much like he did for Kraab as Six-Six scrambled to get him off.
Tetrax then got up and saw SixSix fumbling with Grey Matter on him.
"I told you to stay out of this," He snapped as Grey Matter smirked.
Then he feels a hand touch his shoulder, he turns and sees Samus next to him.
"Tetrax… there's only one thing you need to know about kids…. " She explained. "They rarely do what they are told to do…"
"Sigh… I'll take your word for it." Tetrax sighed.
Then suddenly without warning, Sixsix's jetpack goes off and he starts flying all over the place. He flew around uncontrollably in several directions.
At first, nobody… not even SixSix knew what was going on.
Tetrax was confused as well. "What's gotten into him?" He asked curiously.
Samus looks and sees In-Vade flying in the air, holding a remote control, and cackling like a crazed mad scientist.
Samust then shows Tetrax. "I know Irkens are supposed to be 'minor annoyances'. But stuff like this reminds me why I find them fun to watch."
"MUAHAHAHA! FOOLISH HUNTER! You have fallen under the command of my Control Bug!" She maniacally boosted as she made Sixsix fly around even more crazily.
Grey Matter was still unfortunately on Sixsix when his sister hijacked his suit.
"H-Hey SIS! Cool it with the Air Show!" He pleaded to In-Vade to calm down.
In-Vade rolled her eyes. "I was getting to that! You can't rush my progress, Brother!" She claims as she steadies Sixsix's flight path.
"Much better…" Grey Matter sighed as he examined some wiring in Sixsix's armor.
"Now then, I wonder what would happen if I did this?!" He wondered as he tore out a few cables. This caused Sixsix to blast away with no control.
In-Vade then flew in and took Grey Matter onto her back. "I'll have you know, I had everything under control," She says with a scowl.
"Yeah… Yeah… How about we just watch our handy work in action." Grey Matter offers as they land next to the fallen Kraab to watch Sixsix blast around.
SixSix flies uncontrollably in several directions, before slamming into the supports of the water tower.
The armored bounty hunter eventually dove to the ground, the thrust of the jetpack dragging him across it. He finally crashed onto the ground right next to them.
Then a rumbling sound made the twins notice the water tower's failing and the tower starting to teeter…
Grey Matter started doing the math in his head at the trajectory of where it would fall.
He whispers his findings to his sister and they start chuckling to themselves as the tower's shadow is cast on the two fallen bounty hunters!
"I hate this planet…" Kraab said as In-Vade flew off with Grey Matter. The tower came crashing down onto them and burst open as the water started gushing out.
"Only one way to beat the desert heat, don't you think...?" Grey Matter asked his companions.
"Couldn't agree better myself, Brother…" In-Vade agreed.
"I guess that's pretty smart... for a human," Tetrax (rather backhandedly) admitted.
Samus then cleared her throat as she stood next to him with a glare.
"Oh… Sorry." He apologizes sheepishly.
Tetrax then used a device to deploy a small flying cube. It traveled to where Kraab and SixSix were lying, it grew in size to encase the two bounty hunters, then shrunk down, imprisoning them as the Omnitrixes timed out. He then pocketed the cube with the hunters inside it.
"We'll return as soon as we can," He promised.
"So be ready, We'll see you again soon," Samus agreed.
"Wait? What about these?" Raine asked, showing her Omnitrix.
"They're in good hands… until then," Tetrax reassured as he handed the twins their very own hoverboards, much to the twin's shock.
"Are you serious?" Raine asked, feeling very bewildered.
"These may be of some use in the meantime," Tetrax explained.
"Sweet!" Raine cheered as she cuddled the board with her cheek and Drake smiled at her.
"Score!" Drake agreed, in excitement.
"Just a little something to remember us by," Samus said.
But Drake then soon lowered the excitement when he remembered something. "Hold on... Didn't you say you guys needed this to get off the planet?" He pointed out.
"Selected disinformation," Tetrax said simply.
""Huh?" Drake asked.
"I'm sorry?" Raine asked as she and Drake looked at Gwen for an explanation.
"He lied," Gwen told them as if it were obvious.
"Just testing if we could trust you with the Omnitrixes," Samus explained as she activated her helmet. "And you passed."
Tetrax also activated his helmet as Samus walked up next to him. He then pulled out a device from his belt and pressed a button on the device that teleported them away in a flash of red light.
The Tennysons were left behind as Gwen approached the twins.
"How come you two get all the cool alien stuff?" Gwen complained as she looked at the hoverboards.
"Fits our style," Drake said as Raine nodded in agreement.
"Riiight… I've got something for you too," Gwen said before pulling out her suntan lotion and dumping it all over her cousin's head.
"Hey! What was that for?!" Drake shouted.
"Wouldn't want that big head of yours to get sunburned," Gwen teased as she walked away.
"Guess that payback for almost taking her head off..." Raine chuckled, as Drake glared at her.
Raine then activated her new hoverboard, stepped on it, and hovered next to her brother. "Race you to the Rust Bucket!"
"You're on!" Drake said as he got on his and the two zoomed off to the RV, unintentionally leaving Max and Gwen behind.
"HEY! WHAT ABOUT US?!" Gwen called out, but the twins were already gone.
Max then started walking back. "Come on Gwen, let's not sit around."
Gwen groaned as she followed her grandfather back to The Rust Bucket.
-x-
Back on the Chimeran Wrath, Vilgax and a bioid lieutenant watch a feed of Earth, a spec of light exiting the planet and zooming away into deep space in a flash of red light as it turns to its master.
"Betrayed..." Vilgax realized angrily.
"Sensors indicate the Omnitrixes are not with the mercenaries," The bioid informed its master.
"It appears the creatures who possess the Omnitrixes are as clever as they are fierce," Vilgax notes through labored breathing.
"But I shall not be denied…" He vows ominously.
TBC…
Author's note: Let me know what you think and as always. Constructive criticism is allowed. Trolling is not.
Next Chapter: 'Tourist Trap'
And yes, Aliens call the Quirk-Users 'Osmosians' in this universe, remember that...
Ok, first thing first… there were two reasons why I wanted to save Grey Matter for 'Hunted'…
One… It shows Drake is a bit smarter than Ben was in the original series.
But Two… was to show Grey Matter's effectiveness to the original 10.
All the original 10 had a chance to shine when they were first introduced. But Grey Matter was used only to look for a Sumo Slammer Card.
I decided to wait till this chapter to show him off cause he really signed in this episode.
Samus-
Yes… Samus Aran from Metroid is here. But for two reasons.
One, I like her character.
Two, it's similar to what 'Jake H Voronkov' did in his fic and I've said before this fic is going to be similar to his.
But another reason is that I really enjoyed how Jake was able to blend so many series and franchises into his connected universe.
It is exactly what I want to do with this connected universe, I'm doing with Omni-Heroes.
(Also Samus will tell us that long story of why she is a human in space in the future.)
So until next time. AutoHunter, Rolling out of the hunt.